The Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard ("anti-aircraft-gun tank 'Cheetah, also known as Flakpanzer Gepard) is an all-weather-capable West German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) based on the hull of the Leopard 1. It was developed in the 1960s, fielded in the 1970s, and has been upgraded several times with the latest electronics. It has been a cornerstone of the air defence of the German Army (Bundeswehr) and a number of other NATO countries.

In Germany, the Gepard was phased out in late 2010 and replaced by the Wiesel 2 Ozelot Leichtes Flugabwehrsystem (LeFlaSys) with four FIM-92 Stinger or (proposed) LFK NG missile launchers. A variant with the MANTIS gun system and LFK NG missiles, based on the GTK Boxer, was also considered.

The Gepard has been widely used in combat in the Russo-Ukrainian War, mostly to shoot down drones. as a replacement for the M42 Duster.

Since the 1980s, Redeye and later Stinger MANPADS teams have been accompanying the Gepard units to take advantage of their long-range scanning capacity. To combine this capacity in a single unit, a missile system upgrade that mounts the Stingers in twin packs to the autocannons was developed. The system was tested by the German Bundeswehr but not bought due to budget restrictions. Instead, the Ozelot Light Air Defence System (LeFlaSys) was fielded for the three Airborne Brigades. with a large fully rotating turret carrying the armament—a pair of 35 mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons.

Chassis and propulsion

The Gepard is based on a slightly modified chassis of the Leopard 1 main battle tank,

The guns can be elevated to almost a 90-degree vertical angle.

The first three Gepards arrived in Ukraine on 25 July 2022 and by the end of September thirty Gepards and 6,000 rounds had been delivered by Germany. In May 2023, 15 Gepards sold to Qatar in 2020 were purchased back by Germany for more than double the purchase price.

All 52 Gepards pledged by Germany were delivered to Ukraine by 22 December 2023. An additional 15 Gepards with 259,680 rounds of ammunition were pledged by Germany on 17 January 2024.

According to a Ukrainian defense attache in the United States the Gepard has been used to "great effect" against the "relatively crude" loitering munition believed to be Iranian-made Shahed-136. The Conflict Intelligence Team considers it likely that a Gepard destroyed a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile as it was targeting a Kyiv power plant on 18 October 2022. One unit is credited with destroying more than ten Shahed-136 drones and two cruise missiles. A system such as the Gepard is more effective and hence more cost-effective than more advanced and expensive air defence systems such NASAMS or IRIS-T missiles, while being less politically sensitive as they only have a limited effective range. The London-based think tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) wrote: "In general, gun systems are preferred over missiles where possible due to the much lower cost per engagement and higher availability of ammunition compared with SAMs and MANPADS". Gepard was considered superior to the Russian Pantsir system's autocannon.

Ukraine allegedly suffered its first Gepard loss in April 2023 to a Lancet loitering munition, although the full video shows the Gepard relatively intact after the impact.

Delivery of ammunition

Obtaining ammunition was initially difficult as Switzerland – owing to its neutrality – forbade Germany and Denmark to transfer their stocks of Swiss-made rounds, forcing Germany to rely on other sources for ammunition. This issue was resolved by August and about 50,000 Norwegian-made rounds had been received by the end of September, according to Ukraine's Armed Forces. Photos from the German tabloid of the Gepard with a Ukrainian crew include high-explosive incendiary (HEI) rounds (where the projectile is yellow with a red band) made by Nammo in Norway.

In December 2022, Rheinmetall committed to a new factory in Germany to sidestep the Swiss re-export ban. A deal to start production was signed in February 2023 and the first shipment of new ammunition was delivered to Ukraine in September 2023. Germany delivered the last 3 pledged Gepards to Ukraine by 22 December 2023 along with an additional 30,000 rounds of ammunition.

Operators

thumb|upright=1.35|Flakpanzer Gepard operators

thumb|Romanian Gepards engage simulated targets at an exercise in [[Bemowo Piskie]]

Current

;

: 34 Gepard 1A2

;

: 41 of which 7 used for spare parts

;

: 55 in active service ; 130 delivered in 2022−2024

Former

;

: 55 delivered, withdrawn from service around 2006, and sold to private companies.

;

: 30 vehicles were ordered, in 2008 and after testing 4 vehicles, they were withdrawn from service in 2011. According to KMW's regional director Stephan Straube, the vehicles were purchased from Belgian firm SABIEX (now OIP Land Systems) and were supposed to be upgraded by a joint effort of FAMAE and a private company, but it ultimately failed due to "a lack of proper knowledge about the system" (FAMAE didn't accept an offer from KMW of technical support), and costly logistical support.

;

: 420 originally built for the Bundeswehr (195 B2 and 225 B2L with additional laser rangefinder). During the 1980s they equipped the anti-aircraft artillery regiments of the eleven German mechanized divisions with six batteries each and one additional corps level battalion with three batteries for a total of 69 batteries of six Gepard each. About 220 B2L were later modernised to Gepard 1A2 and equipped five active and the same number of reserve battalions of three batteries with seven Gepard each. This number was further reduced with the planned fielding of MANTIS and the change in military strategy to out-of-area missions. The last 94 of these remained in service until 2010 when they were gradually phased out until 2012 due to high maintenance costs. many of Germany's retired Gepards remain in outdoor storage with KMT's subsidiary Battle Tank Dismantling GmbH Koch in Rockensußra, Thuringia.

;

: 60 were purchased from retired Dutch surplus In May 2023, the Pentagon confirmed that an undisclosed number had been purchased by the U.S. for $118 million using funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, with an expected delivery date of May 30, 2024. According to the German Defense Ministry, the U.S. plans to deliver up to 30 of these to Ukraine before the end of 2023. In November it was confirmed that the USA had bought all 60 of Jordan's Gepards for Ukraine as part of the $118 million deal, with the remaining 30 expected to be delivered by May 2024.

;

: 95 delivered, withdrawn from service and placed in storage 60 sold to Jordan in 2013. In May 2023, it was reported that all 15 Gepards were repurchased by Germany for Ukraine, with Ukraine's ambassador for Germany later filmed in front of one of the ex-Qatari Gepards on a training site. Germany purchased the Gepards from Qatar for US$64 million, roughly double the price they were sold to Qatar for a few years earlier.

Comparable systems

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References

Bibliography

  • https://weaponsystems.net
  • Gepard Photos and Walk Arounds on Prime Portal
  • Gepard at Army Technology
  • Gepard at Defence Journal